Jessie Ware Makes U.S. TV Debut With ‘Wildest Moments’ on ‘Fallon’

The Roots help out on British singer's percussive single

Anyone worried about the hints of awkwardness surrounding the U.S. introduction of British singer Jessie Ware should have had those concerns dispelled last night. The first and, one hopes, only sign that any aspect of Ware could be less than poised came with news that not only is her Essential 2011 debut, Devotion, not out phsyically in the United States until April, but her first EP here, You’re Never Gonna Move, ran into a sample-clearance battle that hobbled standout “110%.” Another song from the EP and album, “Wildest Moments,” is more blown-out and percussion-driven than other Ware songs, which makes it a more natural fit for the U.S. market. Last night on Late Night With Fallon, an elegantly understated Ware demonstrated her just-vibrato-laden-enough vocal mastery, while the Roots filled out the hip-hop-influenced track’s heavy rhythm section. Greatest? Worst of all? Here, in a song Ware has previously performed on U.K. TV and in the back of a cab, the answer was “just right.”